“It’s been something I’ve worked on for years coming out of a bunch of roundtables where I’ve listened to employers and laid-off workers figuring out, how do they get together,” he said Tuesday.

Brown joined Sinclair Community College president Steve Johnson for a tour of the college’s high-tech manufacturing training facilities, and learned about a long-time Sinclair program, SkillsTrac, that matches employers with trainees to be sure the training is targeted to employable skills. As WYSO has reported in the past, the manufacturing sector in the Miami Valley is struggling to recruit skilled workers and shift its image to appeal to younger workers considering higher education.

“John Boehner wakes up every morning and has to decide whether he’s speaker of the Tea Party or speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Brown. "If he does his job...this bill will come to the floor and it will pass."

Speaker Boehner’s office did not agree to an interview, but emailed the following statement:

"The Democrat-controlled Senate has been sitting on the House-passed Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills Act (SKILLS Act) for more than 400 days now, refusing to take any action. That's in addition to dozens of other good, House-passed jobs bills. Congressman Boehner has been urging the president and Senate Democrats to pass those jobs bills...for three years now.”